It's the end of the world, and we know it

Some 22 percent of Americans believe the world is going to end in their lifetime, according to a poll done by Ipsos Global Public Affairs. Along with residents of Turkey, America leads the world in people who believe Armageddon, in one form or another, is coming.

When I first read this, my thought was simple: ďMan, weíve got a whole mess of lunatics in this good olí U.S. of A.Ē

I mean, really: Almost one in four of us think this is it? Think that the man upstairs is going to pull the plug right now? Or nuclear proliferation is going to result in nuclear disaster? Or a flu pandemic is going to wipe humans off the face of the world? Really? This is what we believe?

Weíre a bunch of kooks.

On the other end of the spectrum, residents of France overwhelmingly believe they will not be the last homme standing. Only 6 percent of French people polled believe the beret will be pulled down over our eyes, once and for all, in our lifetimes.

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So what gives? Why do the French believe everything is going to be OK, and we believe otherwise?

Because weíre kooks, right?

And I donít want to leave myself out of this kookfest, as I also kinda-sorta think thereís a decent enough chance we may be headed toward an end-of-the-world (or at least end-of-most-of-the-world) scenario. I mean, are we really going to survive the nuclear age? Iím not a religious man, but my secular self sees a tough road ahead.

So yeah. I see it. I see the end. Count me as part of that 22 percent, or maybe just on the cusp of it. I guess Iím a card-carrying kook as well.

Or Ö

Or maybe Iím just an entitled narcissist who believes I am, personally, the center of the world and canít fathom a universe that doesnít include me.

Yep. Maybe thatís it.

Iím not sure what it is ó American exceptionalism, our Judeo-Christian beliefs, our ever-expanding search for happiness at all costs, a combination of these, plus a few more ó but thereís something uniquely self-centered about us Americans. This is neither good or bad; it just is.

And maybe itís exactly that self-centerism that causes us to think, in numbers that really defy logical belief, our time on Earth will also serve to be the Earthís last time, period.

Simply put, how dare the world go on without us?

Back to the French for a moment: Iíve already attempted to get inside the collective head of one nation, Iím not about to attempt to get in the head of a whole Ďnuther nation and culture.

But I will say this - the cíest la vie attitudes of the French probably prevent them from suffering the same fears about the future. They are a more live for the day culture, at least on the surface. How else to explain the fact of wine, cheese and cigarettes with every meal? (By the way, that fact might be fiction, but it doesnít matter. Remember: Perception is 9/10ths of reality. Or something to that effect.)

Iím probably just overreaching here, trying to tie in the end of the world with the differences between America and France. Regardless though, I do think thereís something dark and dangerous we need to consider here: Nearly one in four of us believe the end is near. That cannot be a healthy place to be.